CDC: Work noise exposure can raise blood pressure, cholesterol levels

Jun 2, 2018

Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition

The Quiet Coalition usually doesn’t comment on occupational noise because workers have legal protection from noise exposure under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, with noise exposure standards, required hearing protection, and compensation for hearing loss, while the public has none.

We have commented–as have many others–that the occupational noise exposure standards are set too high, but we otherwise focus on the public.

But it’s important to note that most of what we know about the dangers of noise comes from occupational studies.

Many research studies, the overwhelming majority from Europe, document these non-auditory health impacts of noise in the public, too, but it’s good to see these issues finally being noticed in the U.S.